The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1911. THE CHOICE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1243, 27 September 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1911. THE CHOICE.

The two members of the Ministry who havo been casting around for some weeks past to discover electorates likely to be sufficiently appreciative of their worth to return them to Parliament have at last made their choice. Parnell is to be honoured with the candidature of Sik John Findlay, and Egmont is to have tho distinction of deciding the fate of:the Hon. T. Mackenzie. The country will not be greatly surprised at the choice, made. Mr. Mackenzie spent some time in the Taranaki district recently and no doubt, by his promises and professions, paved the way to the present decision to contest the Egmont scat. With that charming frankness so characteristic of the Government at election time he has simultaneously with tho announcement of his decision disclosed his determination to embark on a big agricultural programme. He, in conjunction with his political chief, is going to do great things. He is going to "widen out the operations" of the Government and he hopes no doubt that this widening-out process will appeal so strongly to tho agricultural community which he is about to woo that it will open the door for his I return.to. Parliament., ils.. Dive,^

the present member for the seat, not being a Cabinet Minister, cannot dangle baits of this kind before the electors. He has'nothing more than his years of honest service to his electorate and to the country to recommend him. It is quite possible, of course, that the electors of Egmont, being for the most part hard-working small settlers, may prefer the known consistency and blunt straightforwardness of their present member to the alluring, but unsubstantial, promises of the intruding Minister. Mr. Mackenzie's political ncrobatics which carried him from the Opposition benches into the Ministerial fold no doubt are not unknown to the people of Egmont, and even so very plausible a person as Mil. Mackenzie will find it no easy task to prove that his somersault was of any material advantage to anyone but that agile gentleman himself.

In striking contrast to the crude electioneering of Mr. T. Mackenzie is the delicate jincuse of his titled confrere who has placed his gracious person at the disposal 'of the citizens of Parnell. Those who had been labouring under the mistaken impression that Sie John Findlay, profiting by his past election experience, had bolted as far as possible from the city which been his home for so many years, in order to avoid the ignominy of a second defeat at the hands of the vulgar populace, must stand abashed in face of the real reasons which have actuated the flight to Parnell. We arc told with, becoming abandon that the charms of Parnell were irresistible — that Sir John Findlay believes he "can win the seat both on party and even if necessary on personal grounds," and that he would "feel it a special distinction to represent an Auckland constituency." This delicate appeal must surely have gone straight to tho hearts of the good people of Parnell. And how charmed they must have been at his dignified rejection of the effort to secure his distinguished services for perfidious Wellington. "Probably," he said, "I should have been ,even safer there if I had," and later, "I prefer to represent Auckland." And then to fill the cup to overflowing: "If elected, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I represent one of the best constituencies in New Zealand." , 'Could anything have been more delicate—more considerate for the feelings of the electors of Parnell'! A candidate of coarser fibre would have hinted at a prospective post office or a town clock, or, maybe, a new Government House for Auckland. It is pleasing to note that Sir John Findlay, even realising as he does the perils he has sat out to meet, does not wish' "to vaunt any spirit of either courage or sacrifice." The ordinary candidate who contests an election merely for a paltry £300 a year and , a seat in Parliament, and without the assurance of a seat in the Cabinet, if successful, with the prospective Premiership looming on the horizon, might woll keep this admirable example of modest self-effacement before him. The Attorney-General's reply to the Parnell deputation almost convinces us that he has made a grave error of judgment in descending from the placid calm of the Upper Chamber, whore his superior virtues are so enthusiastically applauded by the enlightened body of Government nominees who surround him there, into the ' sordid strife which rages at tho hustings. Still it is consoling_ to know that he realises that private life has many attractions.